The present invention generally relates to devices intended to assist individuals with limited or altered mobility due to a leg injury or condition.
According to Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimations, assistive devices such as canes, wheelchairs, walkers, and crutches are used by millions of people on a day-to-day basis. Individuals with permanent disabilities and those rehabilitating an injury depend on these devices for help with their mobility and daily activities.
Crutches are currently the most common assistive device used for rehabilitation of injuries to the lower leg. There are multiple kinds of crutches, a common type of which is the axilla, or axillary crutch. In use, the upper end of an axillary crutch rests below the user's armpit, medically referred to as the axilla, and the user grips a handgrip located roughly midway along the length of the crutch. The user walks by using the crutch for support in place of an injured leg.
Axillary crutches present challenges and problems for users. While using an axillary crutch, a user does not have use of their hands and arms, which makes it difficult to perform routine activities such as opening doors. Scaling stairs is very difficult and sometimes impossible using axillary crutches. Use of axillary crutches can require considerable physical exertion, and contact in the axilla can cause pain and injury. Despite their name, axillary crutches are intended to contact the user's body at the latissimus dorsi rather than the axilla. Patients can sustain nerve damage in the axilla due to incorrect positioning of the crutches.
In view of the above, there are ongoing efforts to research and design hands-free options to replace standard axillary crutches. Examples of such efforts include push scooters that brace the user's leg to allow the user to easily transport themselves without the worry of putting pressure on their injuries. Modified push scooters can be very effective for long walks, but can be difficult to manage indoors and in small spaces due to their size and weight. In addition, modified push scooters are relatively expensive compared to axillary crutches.
Another alternative is the iWalk™ knee brace, commercially available from iWALKFree, Inc. The iWalk™ transfers weight usually distributed to a user's injured foot to their knee, allows the user to walk hands-free with a nearly normal gait, and can be used to climb stairs. Other examples include the Rollerfoot™ knee scooter commercially available from Step Dynamics, LLC, which supports the user at their knee and is equipped with wheels for mobility, and the Freedom Leg™ commercially available from Forward Mobility, which is a crutch replacement that allows the user to walk almost normally without putting any pressure on the injured leg or foot.
While offering advantages over axillary crutches, the above-noted alternatives have certain limitations or disadvantages. For example, some apply a considerable amount of pressure to the knee, or cannot be used to scale stairs, or do not enable a smooth walking gait or position for the user.